The Enemy of my Enemy
by Syblime
Summary: It wasn't like Captain Edith Crawley didn't already have a reputation where the rule book was concerned, but how far will she push the boundaries for a man who could kill them all? Rating for language and some violence but based on the movie.
1. Chapter 1

_Sorry to all those hoping for a Sherlock update. But this happened! Basically it's a rewrite of Into Darkness with Edith instead of Kirk. However, I do plan on adding some originality into the mix, but it might be a while coming!_

_I'm going to say that it's set between the point in the 2009 movie where the USS Kelvin was attacked and the main body of that film. _

_Also, Edith was not present at the conference where Khan attacks the high ranks of Starfleet and Scotty was dismissed by Admiral Marcus, not by Edith._

_I do not own Downton Abbey or Star Trek into Darkness or the characters involved or anything else. Although if Benedict and Laura do ever embark on a relationship, I might try and claim that I wrote it first!_

_Unbeta'd._

_Enjoy. :)_

* * *

Edith stared at him through the glass. She'd taken Spock's advice and taken the man prisoner as opposed to killing him outright. She'd saved him, just as he'd saved her in the fight with the Klingons. The moment she first lost herself in his clear grey eyes; her gun gone and a ferocious Klingon looming over her. Once everything was under control she just had to slap him; to touch him; to feel those cheekbones under her palm. She had to admit it to herself – she'd have kissed him if she wasn't the captain leading a landing party on a mission. Just watching the power he possessed and the way he handled his weapons was enough to make her legs turn to jelly. And then he had the nerve to ask her if he could have a shower once they got back to the Enterprise. The images! And she knew she wasn't the only one affected by him. The new blond science officer had eyed him up quite obviously as they made their way through the ship.

Standing, facing him now though, she could tell he was dangerous. It was as if he was trying to warn her, save her again maybe. What had Spock said? _"He will only try and manipulate you." _She'd wanted to laugh at that, but there was no way she would be telling the first officer that the tight, black uniform that the prisoner was wearing was already manipulating her enough. She'd asked him to give her a minute, which is why she was now standing back where she had been, only this time it was just her. And him.

"Clearly you're doing this against your orders, so tell me, why did you allow me to live?" A shiver went down her spine at the sound of his voice.

"Starfleet do not condemn people to death without a trial." She tried to sound professional.

"No. You have a conscience, Miss Crawley. You do not condemn people to death without a trial. You alone. Starfleet have no such morals." He saw the scepticism in her eyes. "Let me convince you of the truth." He paused. "23-17-46-11. Coordinates not far from Earth. If you want to know why I did what I did, go and take a look."

"Give me one reason why I should listen to you."

"Because you need me. You have no idea what you are up against. I am not the real enemy here, but I can help you defeat him. Providing that you promise not to use the torpedoes."

Edith had to force herself to tear her eyes away from his. He was so intoxicating. "The torpedoes?" She stated cautiously.

"I suggest you open one up."

She breathed in deeply, looking him directly in the eyes. His own gaze was steady. Could she trust him? Spock was right. He was manipulating her, and on the basis of a gut feeling, she was prepared to be manipulated. She nodded slowly then turned on her heel and walked away. However, her confident walk faltered once she was out of his sight. She shut her eyes and leaned heavily against the wall. "This is a dangerous game you're playing, Edith Crawley." She muttered to herself, before calling Scotty. Between the drunken flirting, she managed to give him the coordinates Harrison had given her and just had to hope that Scotty would go find whatever it was. She then made her way to the bridge.

~X~

"Are you out of your mind? You're not actually going to listen to this guy?" The initial reaction of her senior medical officer was worse than she'd hoped at the suggestion of opening a torpedo. "He killed a number of Starfleet officers, and now you think it's a good idea to pop open a torpedo because he dared you to."

"Why did he save our lives, Bones?" Damn it! She was defending him.

"The doctor does have a point, Captain." Spock added.

"Don't agree with me, Spock. It makes me very uncomfortable." McCoy retorted.

"Perhaps you too should learn to govern your emotions, Doctor. In this situation logic dictates…" Edith ran a hand over her face, despairing at their argument.

"Logic? Oh my god! There's a maniac trying to make us blow up our own damn ship and…"

"That's not it." She finally interrupted. "I don't know why he surrendered, but that's not it."

"You trust him already, do you not?" Spock asked her. She had to ignore that.

"Look, we're gonna open a torpedo. The question is how."

"But Edith, without Mr Scott on board, who exactly is qualified to just pop open a four-ton stick of dynamite?"

"The Admiral's daughter appeared to have interest in the torpedoes, and she is a weapons specialist. Perhaps she could be of some use." Spock offered.

"What Admiral's daughter?" Bones asked.

"Carol Marcus. The new science officer concealed her identity to board the ship."

"The blond one?" Edith had to affirm.

"Yes."

"That Doctor McCoy was chatting up on the connecting flight between Earth and the Enterprise?"

"Me?"

"Spock and I both said we don't need another science officer. And what did you say? The more the merrier." Bones looked at Edith with a slightly wounded expression gracing his features. Edith rolled her eyes. "I'll go and talk to her." Edith left the bridge to find the blond woman.

~X~

"I need to talk to you about torpedoes, Doctor Marcus." Carol paled at Edith's tone.

"Yes Captain. Are the torpedoes still in the weapons bay?"

"Loaded and ready to fire. What are they?"

"I don't know. That's why I forged my transfer onto your ship to find out why. I do apologise for that. By the way, if I caused you any problems, I am sorry."

Edith shrugged. "Let's just deal with the torpedoes." They walked quickly towards the weapons bay.

"My father gave me access to every programme he oversaw. Then I heard he was developing these prototype torpedoes. When I went to confront him about it, he wouldn't even see me. That's when I discovered the torpedoes had disappeared from all official records."

"And then he gave them to me." Edith added, resigned. They got a couple of men to unload one of the torpedoes.

"It's too dangerous to try and open one of these torpedoes on the Enterprise, but there is a nearby planetoid. I can open one up there, but I will need some help."

~X~

"Mr Sulu, have Doctors Marcus and McCoy landed on the planetoid yet?" Edith asked as she made her way across the room.

"Yes Captain. They're moving the torpedo into position now."

"Good. Any activity from the Klingons?"

"Not yet. But if we're stuck here much longer, they will find us." Sulu told her.

"Lieutenant Uhura, did you let Starfleet know we have Harrison in custody?"

"Yes Captain. No response yet." She answered.

"_Engineering to bridge. Hello? Captain can you hear me?"_ Chekov's voice came through the communicator.

"Mr Chekov, give me some good news."

"_We found the leak, Captain, but the damage is substantial. We are working on it."_

"Any idea what caused it?" She asked. This could make or break Harrison's argument. Or Spock's to that matter.

"_Uh, no."_ Chekov sounded defeated. "_But I accept full responsibility."_

Edith blinked slowly. "Something tells me it wasn't your fault. Stay on it." She shut down the communication link. "How are we doing on that planetoid?" She asked, switching to McCoy's communicator. "Bones, thanks for helping out. Dr Marcus asked for the steadiest hands on the ship."

"_You know, when I dreamt about being stuck on a deserted planet with a gorgeous woman, there was no torpedo!"_

"And if I remember correctly, Doctor, it wasn't Carol Marcus either. Now quit flirting and get on with the job in hand."

"_So how can these legendary hands help you, Dr Marcus?"_ Edith cringed from her chair and shared a glance with Sulu.

"Damn it, I knew I shouldn't have sent him!" She muttered, but continued listening to the playful banter before they started fiddling with the weapon.

"The torpedo just armed itself." Sulu told her, as Bones cried out. "The warhead is going to detonate in thirty seconds."

"_What the hell happened? I can't get my arm out!"_

"Target their signal. Beam them back right now." Edith ordered.

"The transported cannot differentiate between Dr. McCoy and the torpedo. We cannot beam back one without the other." Spock replied.

"Dr Marcus, can you disarm it?"

"_I'm trying. I'm trying."_ Her voice was focused.

"_Edith, get her the hell out of here."_ Edith rolled her eyes. Bones had fallen hard.

"_No! If you beam me back, he dies!"_ And so had she, apparently. _"Just let me do it!"_

"_Ten, nine, eight…"_

"Standing by to transport Dr Marcus on your command." How did Sulu manage to sound so calm? Edith placed her left hand on his shoulder, Uhura already had a vice like grip on her right.

"_Four, three…"_ Bones continued counting down. Edith barely realised that she'd been holding her breath until the countdown stopped and she was able to release it.

"Deactivation successful Captain." Spock commented.

"Doctor McCoy, are you alright?" There was no definite answer. "Bones!"

"Edith? You're going to want to see this."


	2. Chapter 2

"What have we got?" Edith asked as she strode into the medical bay.

"It's quite clever actually. This fuel container has been removed from the torpedo and retrofitted to hide this cryo tube." Dr Marcus explained. Edith walked over to the weapon. Her eyes widened when she saw what was in it.

"Is he alive?" She choked out.

"He's alive. But if we try to revive him without the proper sequencing, it could kill him." Bones told her. "This technology's beyond me."

"How advanced, Doctor?" Of course Spock would be interested in the technicalities.

"It's not advanced." Carol countered. "That cryo tube is ancient."

"We haven't needed to freeze anyone since we developed warp capability." Bones continued. "Which explains the most interesting thing about our friend here. He's 300 years old."

Shit. Why do I always go for older men? Edith cast her mind back over her relationships. Yep. Older men was definitely the main pattern. Failure was another one, but she wasn't going to dwell on that right now. Especially not with everyone watching her. Crap.

"I'm um… I'm gonna go and talk to him."

"Captain, I would not recommend engaging the prisoner further." Spock advised.

"How else are we going to get an explanation for all of this?" She was pleading with him. She needed Spock to trust her.

"Very well. But I shall come with you."

"No. Spock, it's fine." She tried to brush it off. "I'm fine." She smile, what she hoped was reassuringly, and made her way to Harrison's cell. The prisoner was sitting with his legs crossed and his eyes closed. She positioned herself so that she was directly in front of him and then mirrored his position. He seemed to sense that she was there and opened his eyes. "Why is there a man in that torpedo?" She asked gently.

"There are men and women in all those torpedoes, Captain. I put them there."

"Who are you?"

"A remnant of a time long past." He had to make it sound romantic, didn't he? "Genetically engineered to be superior so as to lead others to peace in a world at war. But we were condemned as criminals, forced into exile. For centuries we slept, hoping when we awoke things would be different. But your Starfleet began to aggressively search distant quadrants of space and my ship was found adrift. I alone was revived."

"_Captain?"_ Spock's voice came through clear on the intercom.

Edith blinked in annoyance. "Spock?"

"_Captain, I must speak to you. It's urgent."_

"One moment." She excused herself, but enjoyed knowing that Harrison was watching her as she walked away. Could you really feel that kind of emotion after being frozen for 300 years? The way he'd trained his eyes on her suggested that he could. He'd done that earlier as well; while Bones had taken a blood sample, his eyes had never left hers. Just the thought made her shiver and she nearly walked into Spock.

"Mr Spock."

He quirked an eyebrow at her, but did not comment on her behaviour. "I have looked up John Harrison, Captain. Until one year ago he did not exist. Now this suggests that the prisoner is lying to you. I shall accompany you to question him further."

Great. She followed the Vulcan back into room. Harrison looked at her questioningly. She looked back at him apologetically. They were communicating in silence. That was never a good sign.

"Spock has looked up John Harrison." She began.

"John Harrison was a fiction created the moment I was awoken by your Admiral Marcus to advance his cause." Harrison interrupted. "A smokescreen to conceal my true identity. My name is Khan."

"Why would a Starfleet Admiral ask a 300 year old being for help?" Spock asked. This was the closest Edith had seen him to being confused.

"Because I am better."

"At what?" Edith had to ask.

He fixed her with a pointed look.

"Everything." He punctuated the word. Edith tried to hide her smile, as a part of her hoped he was prepared to back that up with actions. Harrison turned back to Spock. "Alexander Marcus needed to respond to an uncivilised threat in a civilised time and for that he needed a warrior's mind. My mind. To design weapons and warships."

"You are suggesting the Admiral violated every regulation he vowed to uphold simply because he wanted to exploit your intellect."

That look again. Would she go against everything Starfleet had taught her to exploit him. Oh God. She probably would.

"He wanted to exploit my savagery. Intellect alone is useless in a fight, Mr Spock. You… You can't even break a rule. How would you be expected to break bone? Marcus used me to design weapons. To help him realise his vision of a militarised Starfleet. He sent you to use those weapons. To fire my torpedoes on an unsuspecting planet. And then he purposely crippled your ship in enemy space, leading to one inevitable outcome. The Klingons would come searching for whomever was responsible, and you would have no chance of escape. Marcus would finally have the war he talked about. The war he always wanted."

"Then why were you on Kronos?" Edith asked. Khan looked pleased, maybe impressed.

"Marcus took my crew from me. He used my friends to control me. I tried to smuggle them to safety by concealing them in the very weapons I had designed. But I was discovered. I had no choice but to escape alone. And when I did, I had every reason to suspect that Marcus had killed every single one of the people I hold most dear. I planned to respond in kind. Tensions with the Klingons have been mounting for years. It was obvious that Marcus would send someone to Kronos. I was going to help the Klingons defeat him."

"And he sent me?" Hadn't she already had this conversation with Carol Marcus?

"_Proximity alert, Captain. There's a ship at warp heading right for us."_ Sulu warned.

"Klingons?"

"At warp?" No pride from Khan this time. Just disappointment. She'd said something without thinking. Not clever enough for him. "No Edith. We both know who it is."

"_I don't think so. It's not coming at us from Kronos_." Sulu's response supported Khan.

"He's coming for you Edith." She nodded slowly.

"Captain…" Spock was going to be the voice of reason, but she couldn't be dealing with that right now. She'd already gone against her orders – albeit at Spock's insistence – but it wasn't like Edith Crawley didn't already have a reputation where the rule book was concerned. Having Khan on board would give her the upper hand in a game she didn't realise she'd been playing. Alternatively, it could be a decision that would endanger the whole ship. The Enterprise was already compromised. Would it be fair? Fair to Spock, to Uhura and the others? To risk their lives because this man was toying with her emotions? Her next words could be make or break.

"Lieutenant, move Khan to med bay. Post six security officers on him." She ordered, running out of the room and making her way back to the bridge.

"Captain on the bridge." Sulu announced, as she finally slowed down to a walk.

"ETA of the incoming ship." She panted.

"Three seconds."

Edith slumped down in her chair. "Shields."

"Aye, Captain." Sulu began preparing the ship. Edith took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. The next instant they were faced with a gigantic black ship.

"They're hailing us, Captain." Uhura told Edith.

"On screen. And broadcast ship-wide, for the record." Khan had a right to know what was happening, just as much as anybody.

"_Captain Crawley."_ Admiral Marcus's profile appeared on the screen.

"Admiral Marcus. I wasn't expecting you. That's a hell of a ship you got there." It wasn't just a distraction. She genuinely was interested in technology. It was one of the things that had drawn her to Starfleet.

"_And I wasn't expecting to get word that you'd taken Harrison into custody in violation of your orders."_ Damn. He didn't take the bait of distraction. Keep stalling, Edith, keep stalling.

"Well, we… uh… we had to improvise when our warp core unexpectedly malfunctioned. But you already knew that, didn't you, sir?"

"_I don't take your meaning_." Okay, that worked better.

"Well, that's why you're here, isn't it? To assist with our repairs? Why else would the head of Starfleet personally come to the edge of the neutral zone?"

"Captain, they are scanning our ship." Sulu informed her.

"Is there something I can help you find, sir?" Her sarcasm was probably too obvious, but she couldn't care less at this particular moment.

"_Where is your prisoner, Crawley?"_ Marcus demanded. Edith hated it when people called her by her last name.

"Per Starfleet regulation, I'm planning on returning Khan to Earth to stand trial."

"_Well, shit. You talked to him."_ Not exactly the response she had been expecting. "_This is exactly what I was hoping to spare you from."_ The Admiral continued. _"I took a tactical risk and I woke that bastard up, believing that his superior intelligence could help us protect ourselves from whatever came at us next. But I made a mistake. And now the blood of everybody he's killed is on my hands. So I'm asking you, give him to me so that I can end what I started."_

And I'd like to end what I started, thank you very much. Edith blinked several times to keep the anger she was feeling down. "And what exactly would you like me to do with the rest of his crew, sir? Fire them at the Klingons? End 72 lives? Start a war in the process?" Not to mention get everyone on this ship killed, she silently added.

"_He put those people in those torpedoes. And I simply didn't want to burden you with knowing what was inside of them. You saw what this man can do all by himself. Can you imagine what would happen if we woke up the rest of his crew?"_

"It doesn't condemn them to death sir." She counter argued.

"_Khan and his crew were condemned to death as war criminals. And now it is our duty to carry out that sentence before anyone else dies because of him. Now I'm going to ask you again! Lower your shields. Tell me where he is."_

Ask? Edith scoffed. It was a threat, and considering Marcus had sent her there to die, she wasn't in a very giving mood. "He's in engineering, sir. But I'll have him moved to the transporter room right away."

"_I'll take it from here."_ Marcus concluded before ending the transmission.


End file.
